When we think of yoga, the first thing that usually comes to mind is bendy bodies and maybe deep breathing. But originally, yoga was more about the inner workings of our minds and using breath and movement to tame the activity of our minds and deepen our self-awareness.
The Katha Upanishad is the first original text that defines yoga. The Katha Upanishad depicts the body as a chariot. In this world, the material world, the body, or chariot, is pulled around by the five senses. The five senses are represented by horses; they pull us in different directions so that we can indulge in what we see, hear, taste, smell, and touch. The passenger on the chariot represents the Self, the center of consciousness, which is a neutral witness. The reins represent the mind, which is impulsive and easily distracted by emotional responses to each situation. The mind can be pulled in many directions unless the charioteer, representing the higher Intellect, takes charge of the reins.
This image of the body as a chariot poses some important questions, for example:
- Who is driving your chariot? Is your mind running uncontrolled in every direction, or have you taken charge of the reins?
- How aligned are you? Are you in touch with your senses, your mind, your higher Intellect, and your inner Self?
- What path are you taking, and who gets to decide your path?
The Katha Upanishad further states that only when the mind and the five senses stand still and when Intellect does not waver, this is the highest state. This is what one calls yoga, the steady control of the senses, the concentration of the mind, and clarity of the higher Intellect.
Would you like to experience the state of yoga? Do you want to take charge of the reins of your mind, become more internally aligned, and take charge of your own path? In this series, we will explore how we can harness the vortex of the mind, heal old wounds, and deepen our self-awareness.
Meditation is sometimes considered the only tool for mind training, but that is not the case. In our yoga practice, we can use
- Chanting (which involves memorizing and repeating specific chants, mantras, or lines from sacred texts to focus the mind and digest our mental chatter)
- Text study (which means studying sacred and modern texts to gain perspective)
- Svadhyaya (or reflective self-awareness that enables us to become conscious of our conditioning).
And, of course,
- Meditation (which cultivates the ability to sustain a one-pointed focus for extended periods of time)
Each of these tools becomes more effective when grounded in the body; we can use yoga postures to anchor our attention in the body, expand our vital energy, and then direct that energy and attention to the mind to tame the mental chatter.
In this series, we will tap into the power of ancient techniques, neuroscience, and modern psychology to access our powerful inner resources.
- We will learn how our feelings color and shape our external reality and how our life experiences, particularly chronic pain and trauma, alter our nervous system and our perception of the outside world.
- We will discover if our thoughts make us suffer and the steps we need to take to change how our minds work and respond to things.
- We will explore the five layers of the human system (or five koshas) and how to access the inner layers through meditation.
- We will focus on observing our internal physiological sensations without interpreting them to become more reflectively self-conscious of our inner states and how they affect our reality.
- We will see how chanting can serve as a digestive enzyme to help us process our mental drama and how sound can affect us on different levels.
- We will discover proven strategies to overcome our inner challenges and diminish the emotional charge associated with obstacles in our lives.
- We will learn about the Four Brain Characters and how understanding them helps us make sense of our thinking process and emotional reactions.
- We will use the Internal Family Systems approach to gain a better understanding of what’s going on in our body and mind and facilitate a more harmonious relationship between different parts of ourselves.
- We will see how we can reframe our thinking and discover tools to help us change our emotional responses.
- We will explore mudras and nyasas, specific hand gestures that can be used to direct energy throughout the body and cultivate specific mental-emotional states.
- Finally, we will learn about the different kinds of rest and how through yoga, we can learn to refuel our energy tanks before they get completely empty.
Throughout the series, we will begin to understand different aspects of ourselves, face our mental hang-ups, develop our inner strength, and connect to our own healing potential. When the world around us seems chaotic and unpredictable, yogic mental training techniques help us stay grounded, centered, open-minded, and connected to our natural inner peace.
While working through this series, remember that while your mind is incredibly powerful, it can also be very fragile. Significant life transitions, emotional and physical pain, past trauma, and emotional fluctuations affect your mental state and your resilience. Please seek qualified help whenever you feel like your current strategies of self-soothing and self-stabilization are not working.
